Public Relations开国元勋 (Founding Fathers)

Anyone who has studied public relations knows of the industry’s so-called “founding fathers”.

Image Source

 P.T. Barnum (1810-1891) cleverly promoted his eccentric museum and circus with media stunts and provocative ads. From salesman to circus king and politician to philanthropist, Barnum dubbed himself “showman by profession.” In choosing Barnum as one of the 100 most important people of the millennium, LIFE magazine dubbed him “the patron saint of promoters.” The PR industry credits Barnum for his mastery of promotion and press agentry, which helped developed the modern publicity model of PR.

Image Source

Ivy Lee (1877-1934) was a journalist for the New York American, New York Times and New York World. In 1903 he became the publicity manager for the Citizens' Union and formed Parker and Lee public relations firm with colleague George Parker. In 1906 he worked for the Pennsylvania Railroad company, which was under scrutiny for withholding information of an accident to reporters at the time. He immediately issued what is considered the first press release and took reporters to accident sites, regardless of the company’s scepticism to release such information. Lee was promoted after receiving positive feedback, and his job description provides archives for one of the first VP-level PR positions. He later became personal advisor to John D. Rockefeller.

Image Source

 Edward Bernays (1891-1995), a soldier exposed to WWI propaganda and marketing techniques, applied his uncle’s (Sigmund Freud) ideas in the commercial realm to control how people behaved and thought. Not only did he coin the term "counsel on public relations", but he also founded the first American public relations firm in 1919. His career led from journalist to press agent and publicist for the American Tobacco Company and General Electric Company. He tutored presidents, political leaders and companies in the use of mass media.

The 19^th century seems to hold distant memories in American and Canadian history; back then the second largest country in the world was populated by roughly 400,000 people and business still revolved around fur trade. Meanwhile, during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) China's population dramatically expanded to 400,000,000. Merchant guilds proliferated in all of the growing Chinese cities and often acquired great social and even political influence. Although this period was also faced with immense military and social conflict, it saw outstanding achievements in science, art and architecture.

All of this got me thinking. If the foundation of American public relations can be credited to a soldier with an understanding of psychology, a transparent journalist and an extravagant salesman, imagine all of the undiscovered PR practices that must have taken place in the great history of China.

I once wrote an article about Chinese medicinal pear candy that carries a story dating back 1300 years, to the Tang Dynasty period. The candy was supposedly developed by an emperor’s doctor and the recipe was made public after an inside leak… you see, these things happen with or without the help of Assange. Soon after, a group of hawkers paraded the streets selling the candy and generated public interest with improvised jokes, ballads and tongue-twisters. If the practices of these hawkers were also documented, is it possible that they too could be credited for shaping modern day public relations?

University professors, Ping Ping Fu and Gary Yukl, set out to prove that “cultural values can profoundly affect the attitudes, behavior, and performance of individuals” through their research that examines the perceived effectiveness of influence tactics in the United States and China. Their study focused on managerial behaviour and confirmed common perceptions that Americans prefer direct confrontation, while Chinese use indirect forms of influence, often involving a third party. They state, “Even though rational persuasion is a flexible tactic that can be useful in any culture, Chinese managers are likely to use it less than American managers, because it can provoke overt disagreement, which is considered highly undesirable.”

Contrary to most western efforts to influence public behaviour and perception, Chinese will build interpersonal relationships as a basis for influence. Leveraging on trust and respect that are woven into the relationship, individuals can covertly sway opinion. However, it is likely that a formal means of public relations never surfaced in earlier days due to strict government control and influence over business operations. The crafty merchants who originally sold medicinal pear candy were likely lacking the necessary credentials and connections to apply their skills in a professional setting.

Maybe there is another class of individuals who performed PR-type roles in China’s history. It would be fascinating to unveil some influential figures as the profession has begun to really take shape in the past decade.

Lay of the Land

 Party Persuasion & Refining the Roster to Achieve ROI

Image courtesy of Phillip Chiu

One of the first exclusive events I attended in Shanghai was on behalf of a global leader in material manufacturing for luxury cars such as Ferrari, Lamborghini and Maserati. High net-worth individuals were invited for free cocktails and a private viewing – I attended as a plus-one, of course :)

While approaching the venue I was briefed on who and what to expect. Most guests weren’t meeting for the first time, nor would it be the last. They congregated in small groups, shook hands with one another, exchanged business cards and made small talk while observing new faces in the crowd.

As the wine continued flowing, I was introduced to more and more PR practitioners and three thoughts ran through my mind: Either, 1) I’m entering a highly saturated professional field with loads of competition; 2) this event must have been advertised through a local PR network; or 3) PR in China envelopes far more practices than I imagined.

None of my assumptions were correct. The industry is not oversaturated with pros, but rather lacking quality professionals to fulfil a growing demand for PR services; there definitely wasn’t any advertising for the event through a local PR network, since most of them lack members and value; and China’s PR industry has only recently gained recognition for service outside of media relations and marketing-type roles. In a country where 93% of the population lives outside of first-tier cities (according to 2011 stats by Matt McDougall) it’s easy to see how the concept of public relations could be beyond the scope of those who aren’t directly connected to a business environment. Still, most people at the event were local Shanghainese, with the exception of a few from Hong Kong and Beijing. These people knew what they were talking about. However, although they claimed to be in the industry, not one of them mentioned a current client or project.

A few glasses of wine encouraged personal storytelling and whether Mr. Ma was really born into Chinese nobility and had a girlfriend in every European country or not, I was definitely indulging the possibility for everyone’s amusement. It wasn’t until the next day that my companion, who accompanied me to the event, started pulling business cards out of his pockets and reference-checking them via Google. I wasn’t sure why he was doing this, but he assured me that I’d soon see the purpose. Sure enough, the second business card had listed a placeholder web address as the company website. He held up the card and said, “This is how you distinguish the fakers from the makers,” and tossed the card in the trash.

A business card represents a miniature portfolio that is indicative of a person’s identity and business potential; and that day, we discovered six “faker” cards among the stack received from the event. There are obvious signs to look for when analyzing business cards – for example, card design, listed services, inactive email addresses and virtual offices. If people cannot adequately brand themselves, why would a client expect their services to be any different?

I was instantly curious as to why people would attempt to fake a profession and indulged any chance to make a connection to the idea [to be further explored in the next blog post].

 

Maybe the self-proclaimed PR people at the event were masking a less respected profession. It had become fairly obvious at this point that most of them weren’t in public relations. Deductive reasoning led me to conclude that the self-branding phenomenon was result of both misinformed and misleading individuals who simply decided that public relations sounds better than party host and chose to identify themselves using the former of the two. This sort of behaviour is not unique to our profession either. I’ve heard multiple stories of people being caught faking it before reaching an opportunity to begin making it, so to speak. I guess these are the lengths that people have resorted to in such a heavily populated and competitive work environment.

Getting back to the story, the same crowd of so-called elites gathered again a few weeks later for a diamond viewing; after that was a club opening; and after that… well, you get the point. Any day of the week, these people show up at ‘exclusive’ events to sniff out those with actual credentials and try to make a name for themselves. The funny part is that less people with credentials turn out each time and all that’s left is a bunch of aspiring billionaires with empty bank accounts, sipping on free cocktails, competing in persuasion.

When not entirely consumed by work, a reputable businessperson might occasionally consider attending this sort of event. However, I found that this luxury car interior affair was missing a few quintessential elements to achieve its original purpose… particularly strategic planning and measurable results.

Behind the scenes of the gathering, was an Italian car interior company that hired an Italian boutique event company to promote its services to high-net-worth individuals. The Italian boutique event company then hired a third party contractor with access to a list of such individuals in our particular city. In the end, the hosting company bit the costs of free flow wine, continuous horderve circulation, a ritzy venue, staffing and other miscellaneous expenditures on top of all the planning fees. I don’t recall encountering anyone from the automotive sector who may have been interested in becoming an affiliate or could promote the brand name to individuals looking for custom interior. Nor do I recall anyone showing interest in the company brochures that were still neatly arranged on the table when I left.

With all this in mind, I’m left wondering how to effectively manage such an event. Was it the guest list that lacked a strategic focus? Should there have been more brand promotion or structure to the event? How do you avoid inviting the fakers instead of the makers?

I’m interested in hearing comments and possibly collecting links to similar events that were successful.